Labeling devices

ABSTRACT

A labeling device for labels which adhere to a support or carrying tape, which is provided with recesses or cut-away marginal portions which are arranged with a spacing correspondence to the spacings between the front edges of the label, and the device is equipped with a transport roller drawing off the support tape step-by-step for the advance of a label, the transport roller being arranged to bring the label in a dispensing position which is to be held precisely and on its periphery is provided with projections which fit into the recesses or cut-away marginal portions of the carrier tape and can be driven in steps at a constant angle and is provided with a non-reversing ratchet, characterized in that a transport part is arranged so as to swing about the axis of rotation of the transport roller and a gripping piece which lies resiliently against the periphery of the transport roller is so pivotally mounted that on movement of the part a driving abutment, of the gripping piece, which is located adjacent to the projections located on a periphery of the transport roller, strikes against the projection and thus presses the gripping piece against the support tape lying on the periphery of the transport roller and drives the transport roller and drives the transport roller with the support tape through a distance determined by the pivoting angle of the part and in that on movement of the part against the transport direction of the driving abutment slides over the projections and raises the gripping piece from the support tape.

July 4, 1972 K. scHRoTz ETAL LABELING DEVICES 4 Sheets-Sheet l FiledAug. 28, 1970 K .QL

July 4 1972 K. scHRo-rz TAL 3,674,609

LABELING DEVICES Filed Aug. 28, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 4, 1972 K.scHRorz EI'AL 3,674,609

LABBLING DEVICES Filed Aug. 278, 1970 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 3

July 4, 1972 K, SCHROTZ EI'AL' 3,674,609

LABBLINGDEVICES Filed Aug. 28, 1970 4 sheets-sheet 4 'United StatesPatent Oihce 3,674,609 Patented July 4, 1972 3,674,609 LABELING DEVICESKurt Schrotz, Brentanostr. 29B, and Werner Becker, Hauptstr. 25, both ofHirschhorn (Neckar), Germany Filed Aug. 28, 1970, Ser. No. 67,708 Claimspriority, application Germany, Sept. 4, 1969, P 19 44 857.8 Int. Cl.B65c 11/00 U.S. Cl. 156-577 6 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Alabeling device for labels which adhere to a support or carrying tape,which is provided with recesses or cutaway marginal portions which arearranged with a spacing corresponding to the spacings between the frontedges of the label, and the device is equipped with a transport rollerdrawing oit the support tape step-by-step for the advance of a'label,the transport roller being arranged to bring the label in a dispensingposition which is to be held precisely and on its periphery is providedwith projections which t into the recesses or cut-'away marginalportions of the carrier tape and can be driven in steps at a constantangle and is provided with a non-reversing ratchet, characterised inthat a transport part is arranged so as to swing about the axis ofrotation of the transport roller and a gripping piece which liesresiliently against the periphery of the transport roller is sopivotally mounted that on movement of the part a driving abutment, ofthe gripping piece, which is located adjacent to the projections locatedon a periphery of the transport roller, strikes against the projectionand thus presses the gripping piece against the support tape lying onthe periphery of the transport roller and drives the transport rollerwith the support tape through a distance determined by the pivotingangle of the part and in that on movement of the part against thetransport direction of the driving abutment slides over the projectionsand raises the gripping piece from the support tape.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION (l) Field to which invention relates The presentinvention relates to a novel transporting device for the feed of labelsstuck to a carrying tape in label dispensing arrangements.

(2) The prior art Arrangements in which the new transport device can beused with advantage are described for example in the U.S. patentspecifications 2,522,224, 2,656,063 and 3,265,- 553.

In this respect it is a question of devices with which adhesive labelscan be dispensed or can be applied to articles to be labeled. 'I'helabels can also be printed on their Way from a supply roll to adispensing position. These arrangements can be constructed asarrangements which are t0 be manually operated or they can also beconstructed as automatically operating machines. The labels can be stuckwith spaces between them on a support tape, though they can also beseparated partially or completely from each other by scoring orperforations. It is also possible to use label tapes which consist of asupport tape and a paper tape adhering to it in the form of a strip. Inthis case after printing the labels and after the detachment from thesupport tape the individual label must be cut from the strip.

In the case of these devices there is a particular problern whichresides in that the transport arrangement engaging the support tape hasto be controlled in such a manner that on each feed movement a label isbrought into a precisely dispensing position and possibly another labelis brought into a printing position which has to be precisely kept to.In the case of the known arrangements label tapes are used which forcontrol of the transport devices are provided with cut-away edges orwith recesses which are arranged with a spacing between them andcorrespond exactly to the spacing of the front edges of the labels.These recesses are sensed mechanically by means of sensing means orfeelers. The feelers control the draw off path or movement of thetransport device engaging the support or carrying tape.

The German patent specication 649,833 refers to a transport device inthe form of a gripping slide which, when a feeler is actuated, holds thelabel tape to be transported fast on a slide which can be moved intranslation so that the tape is entrained through a distance which isprecisely dened.

These known arrangements, have the disadvantage that the feelers must beextremely sensitive in order to sense the label tape because therecesses lor perforations in the label tape only exert small forces onthe feelers. Moreover the threading of the label tape in arrangements isdifficult which are provided with transport devices controlled in thismanner.

The German Gebrauchmuster specification 1,997,251 describes a device forthe dispensing of labels in which the labels are attached adhesively ina row on a support tape which'is provided with recesses or marginalcut-away portions set with a spacing between them so as to correspondwith the spacings of the iront edges of the labels. The device ischaracterised in that use is made of a transport roller which is movedin steps through a constant angle and has on its periphery projectionswith a peripheral pitch corresponding to the feed or advance angle. Theprojections fit with clearance into the recesses or marginal cut-awayportions of the support tape and in order to achieve a suticiently highfrictional force between the carrier tape and the transport roller thecarrier tape is wrapped around the transport-.roller so as to extend foran angle of more than This known device has, however, the disadvantagethat the pulling force exerted by the transport wheel on the label tapedepends upon the frictional-forces between the carrying tape and thetransport roller. These frictional forces can be reduced considerablyfor example owing to the surface lof the transport roller becomingdirty.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION One aim of the invention is to provide a transportdevice for label tapes which does not have the disadvantages of theknown devices and makes possible an easy threading in of the label tapeand a precise transport of label tape Vwhich is both rapid and reliable.p

The starting point of the invention is a known device for printingand/or dispensing self-adhesive labels, which as a tape or individuallywith an equal spacing adhere to a support or carrying tape, which isprovided with recesses or cut-away marginal portions which are arrangedwith a spacing corresponding to the spacings between the front edges ofthe labels, and the device is equipped with a transport roller drawingot the support tape step-by-step for the advance of a label, the.transport roller being arranged to bring the label in a printing and/ordispensing position which is to be held precisely and on its peripheryis provided with projections which lit into the recesses or cut-awaymarginal portions of the carrier tape and can be driven in steps at aconstant angle and is provided with a non-reversing ratchet yand thedevice in accordance with the invention is characterised in that atransport part is arranged so as to swing about the axis of rotation ofthe transport roller and a gripping piece which lies resiliently againstthe periphery of the transport roller is so pivotally mounted that onmovement of the part a driving abutment, of the gripping piece, which islocated adjacent to the projections located on a periphery of thetransport roller, strikes against the projection and thus presses thegripping piece against the support tape lying on the periphery of thetransport roller and drives the transport roller with the support tapethrough a distance determined by the pivoting angle of the part and inthat on movement of the part against the transport direction of thedriving abutment slides over the projections and raises the grippingpiece from the support tape.

LIST OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF DRAWINGS In the following description anembodiment of the invention is described in more detail with referenceto the drawings.

FIG. l of the drawings is a side view of the device for printing andapplying labels with a label transport means in accordance with theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the transport device on a larger scale.

FIG. 3 is a view on the section line III-III of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the transport roller.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the transport part with a gripping piece.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the gripping piece.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the gripping piece in accordance with amodified embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With the device shown in FIG. 1self-adhesive labels 1, which are attached in a row on a support orcarrying tape 2, are printed as they pass from the label supply roll 3to the label dispensing position by a printing mechanism which can bemoved against a printing plate 5 and the support or carrying tape 2 isdrawn in steps around a guide means 10 by a transport device, whichcomprises a transport roller 4 and a transport part with a pivotallyattached gripping piece 8, for removal of the labels. The label 1 in thedispensing position which has already been printed and to a large extentis detached from the support tape 2 is still held gently at its rearedge, while its front edge lies under the pressing roller 9, with whichit can be rolled on to an article to be labeled.

IThe parts of the device provided for prin-ting the labels and for thetransport of the labels step-by-step are accommodated in a housing 40which has a handle 11. A hand lever 13 which can be swung about the pinor axis 12 on the housing can be swung into the handle 11 against theforce of a spring 14. On swinging in the hand lever 13 the printingmechanism 6, which is attached to an arm 15 connected rigidly with thehand lever 13, is moved towards the printing platen 5. During themovement of the printing mechanism 6 towards the printing platen 5, theinking mechanism 16 is actuated. In the rest position of the device theinking mechanism presses an inking pad against the printing type of theprinting mechanism 6.

On swinging the hand lever 13 the transport part 7 which can be swungabout the axis or shaft 18 of the transport roller 4 is moved with thepivotally mounted gripping part 8 in a direction opposite to thedirection of rotation of the transport roller 4 in such a manner that adriving abutment 20 of the gripping piece 8 its over a projection fromthe periphery of the transport roller 4. On releasing the hand lever 13the hand lever is swung back owing to the action of the spring 14 andthe transport part 7 together with the transport roller 4 are turnedthrough an angle which bring about an advance of the label tape througha distance corresponding to one label 1.

lIn order to ensure that the transport roller 4 cannot turn in adirection opposite to the transport direction on swinging in the handlever 13, a non-reversing ratchet is provided which is made up of aresilient piece of sheet metal 21 whose free edge acts against teeth 22arranged on the periphery of the transport roller 4.

As shown more particularly in FIG. 4 the teeth 22 or grooves arearranged in the middle of the transport roller 4 at the bottom of anelongated recess 23. The out-away parts on the edges of the support tape2 and the projections 25 fitting into these cut-away parts, on theperiphery of the transport roller 4 are formed by an undulated surfacewhose pitch corresponds to the distance between sequentially followingfront edges of labels 1. The projections 25 iitting into the cut-awayedge portion of the support tape 2 have the purpose of bringing thetransport roller 4 into such a position in relation to the transportroller that a label 1 becoming detached from the support tape at thelabel dispensing position comes tulie in a precisely dened dispensingposition and, in those cases such as the present case in which thedevice is also provided with a printing mechanism, the labels arebrought into a precisely dened printing position. The transport roller 4is driven in steps to a constant angle by the transport part 7 with thegripping piece 8. The angle corresponds to the pitch as a projection 25on the periphery of the transport roller 4. Since the support tape 2lies in a dened manner above the transport roller 4 a precise advance orfeed movement of the labels 1 is ensured.

In the arm 15 rigidly connected with the hand lever 13 a guide slot 17is arranged into which a pin 19 ts. This pin is vattached to thetransport part 7. If the hand lever 13 is swung inwards, the pin 19, thetransport part 7 and the gripping piece 8 assume the position shown inbroken lines in FIG. 2. If now the hand level 13 is released, the spring14 draws the arm 15 and thus also the transport part 7 back into theoriginal position. During this movement the two driving abutments 20 tothe sides of the gripping piece 8 drop into the gaps 24 between twoadjacent projections 25 and entrain the transport roller 4.Simultaneously the gripping piece 8 locks the support tape 2 against theperiphery of the transport roller 4 so that substantial tension forcescan be exerted on the support tape 2.

As shown more particularly in FIG. 5, on the gripping part 8 a rail orstrip 26 of elastomeric material, for example Vulkollan is arrangedwhich in the gripping position presses the transport tape 2 against thetransport roller 4. In order for this rail or strip 26 to becomereleased from its clamped position on the swinging back of the transportpart 7, it must always be ahead, in terms of the transport direction, ofthe line connecting the pivot axis 18 of the transport part 7 and theaxis 29 of the gripping piece 8. The driving abutment 20 is soconstructed that it snaps or fits reliably between the projection 25into the gaps 24 between them. The transport part 7 is made up of twolateral pieces of sheet metal and a :bridge piece or connecting part 27screwed between these pieces of sheet metal. The connecting part 27 ismade of plastics material. On its front side, that is to say in thetransport direction, the bearing hole 28 for the attachment of thegripping piece are arranged. The gripping piece 8 is pressed by ahelical torsion spring 30 against the periphery of the transport roller.

At the other end of the connecting part 27 a guide part 31 is attachedwhich serves, in substance, to facillitate the threading of the labeltape into the device. On introducing a new label tape 1, 2 the beginningend of the label tape is introduced, after swinging the hand lever 13 inan inward direction, into the gap 32 which narrows in a funnel-likemanner between the guide part 31 and the transport roller 4. The guidepart 31 guides the label tape in such a manner that it lies between theedge rails 33 of the transport roller 4 on the roller. The projections25 engaging the marginal cut-away portions of the label tape 1, 2 on theroller are in a position to draw on the label tape further. The roller 4can be turned by hand until the front end of the label band has passedthe gripping piece 8. The device is now ready for use.

j FIG. 6 shows the gripping part 8 of FIG. 5 in front view. The lateraldriving abutments 20 of the gripping piece 8 are so shaped that theydrop with a certain clearance reliably into the arcuate gaps 24 betweenthe projections 25.

FIG. 7 shows a modified embodiment of the gripping piece 8'. The lateraldriving abutments 20 of the gripping piece 8 are constructed in the formof fingers. Between these driving abutments 20' and the central grippingpiece 8 recesses 33 are provided by means of which guide parts 31rigidly iixed in the housing 40 of the device are passed. These guideparts extend with a small clearance over the periphery of the transportroller and have a function similar to the guide part 31 attached to thetransport part 7.

We claim:

1. A labeling device for labels which adhere to a support or carryingtape, which tape is provided with recesses or cut-away marginal portionswhich are arranged with a spacing corresponding to the spacings betweenthe front edges of the label, and the device is equipped with atransport roller drawing oi the support tape step-bystep for the advanceof a la'bel, the transport roller being arranged to bring the label in adispensing position which is to be held precisely and on its peripheryis provided with projections which fit into the recesses or cut-awaymarginal portions of the carrier tape and can be driven in steps at aconstant angle and is provided with a non-reversing ratchet,characterised in that a transport part is arranged so as to swing aboutthe axis of rotation of the transport roller and a gripping piece whichlies resiliently against the periphery of the transport roller is sopivotally mounted that on movement of the part a driving abutment, ofthe gripping piece, which is located adjacent to the projections locatedon a periphery of the transport roller, strikes against the projectionand thus presses the gripping piece against the support tape lying onthe periphery of the transport roller and drives the transport rollerwith the support tape through a distance determined by the pivotingangle of the part and in that on movement of the part against thetransport direction of the driving abutment slides over the projectionsand raises the gripping piece from the support tape.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 characterised in that on bothsides of the gripping piece driving abutments are arranged which t intogaps between the projections on the periphery of the transport roller.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 characterised in that on the freeend of the gripping piece a rail acting against the support tape isarranged which is made of rubber-elastic material.

4. A device in accordance with claim 1 characterised in that with asmall spacing the guide rod is arranged over the part, accepting thesupport tape, of the periphery of the transport roller and this guidepart extends over an angular range of above and forms a gap narrowing ina funnel-like manner with the transport roller on the inlet side.

5. A device in accordance with claim 4 characterised in that the guiderod is arranged on the connecting part of the transport part.

6. A device in accordance with claim 1 characterised in that as anon-return ratchet for the transport roller use is made of a resilientpiece of sheet metal which cooperates with grooves arranged on thebottom of an elongated recess arranged on the periphery of the transportroller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,231,446 1/1966 Satas 156-3843,265,553 8/1966 Kind et al. 156-384 3,308,002 3/1967 Hurwich et al.156-577 3,440,123 4/ 1969 Hamisch 156-384 ROBERT F. BURNETT, PrimaryExaminer R. A. DAWSON, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 156-384, 579,584

